Mr Vincent Theobald-Vega

FIIRSM, FRSPH, CMIOSH, MISTR, EurOSHM, BSc, M

Overview

Bespoke as standard, from an award winning provider!

Get support for your company from a former HSE Inspector and university Head of Safety with over 25 years of experience solving health and safety problems. I work in most parts of the UK and am experienced in a wide range of specialist areas including universities, research, education health services and technology areas.

Services

My main service is to provide tailored general support (any health and safety questions or issues for which you need assistance). I also can undertake

audits of your company (find out how compliant you are with National Standards),

inspections of your workplaces (using agreed standards),

investigate accidents and incidents, and

train your staff.

If you are having legal problems with the HSE or a civil claim, you will have the comfort that I am experienced with both criminal and civil cases, and in 25 years I have not lost a health and safety case (actually, I have been successfully involved in several groundbreaking cases  for more information have a look at my CV on the website).

My training is good (see what people say about it on my website) because with my experience I'm able to engage people, using a myriad of stories and examples that capture peoples attentionand bring the theory into something that they can relate to. Also I am a qualified teacher, who can plan and deliver courses to meet specific learning objectives. I will provide courses written for you (tailored to your needs) or standard courses (including IOSH and NEBOSH courses delivered via national providers).

I am an examiner for some national and international NEBOSH courses, and have also been an IOSH IPD examiner.

You can find out a lot more from my website at www.safety4hed.co.uk, including my CV and some details of our contracts and terms.

Although I am affiliated to, or a Member or Fellow of, numerous professional bodies, my charges are always tailored to be highly economical because I do not have the high office costs of a large company. This also releases me from rigid systems and enables all my work to be bespoke to your systems (basically, tell me what you want and I will do my best to fit in with your systems as smoothly as the circumstances allow).

Award Winning

2015 - Safety 4 HEd LLP was awarded both the Forensic Industry e-mag Award and the Security Industry e-mag Award for our "Excellence for services to the health and safety industry 2015". For more information on these awards please visit our website.

2016 - Winner of the Forensic Insider "Health and Safety Expert Witness of the Year 2016".

2017 - Winner in the Lawyer Monthly Expert Witness Awards 2017.

Charges

All my pricing is open and transparent, and all the charges will be agreed before you decide to take up my services. THERE ARE NO HIDDEN EXTRAS. For what you get, my services cost a lot less than many other providers.

I can point to one client who saved £30,000 using my provision compared to buying off the shelf courses.They also got a course that was written for them, incorporating their procedures and guidance, and using examples from their workplace, all of which would have been absent with an off-the-shelf course.

Discounts are available for various organisations - feel free to ask about discounts.

Contacting me

I am easilly obtained using vincent@safety4hed.co.uk or by calling on 07940 564 889. If you call and get the answer machine please do leave a message as I will get back to all callers (sometimes I am in meetings or teaching and that is why there is an answer machine).

Services

Fees

My fees are set on a case by case basis, for the service that you want.

Fees are always fully transparent and there are NO HIDDEN EXTRAS - everything is always defined in advance.

Typically, you can expect to pay me significantly less than you would have to pay a large company if you want somebody with my experience.

If you only want to get an idea of what level of cost you may need to pay then give me a call and we can talk it through at no charge. You never know the answer may be so simple that I do not charge at all. Many enquiries are completely satisfied with no need to take on a paid consultancy (yes sometimes it really is that simple).

Audits

Audits can be undertaken on your company's activities, mainly using the published standards HSG65, though I am happy to use any other recognised standard that you select and have documented (including internal standards).

Audits can be on a whole company, a geographical area (such as a plant), a process, or an activity. Also on any logical combination of these.

If you want to accompany me on the whole process, then that is perfectly acceptable, and I am happy to undertake joint audits to assist with upskilling or quality control with internal staff.

You will get a report showing how you compare with the selected standard, and containing my advice on how to improve your compliance with your selected standards and the legal requirements.

Reports will typically also contain images and references to published material. On occasions, additional materials may also be added (such as training aids or checklists) that you may find useful.

Inspections

Inspection is an element of Audit but it can also be provided as a stand-alone service.

Inspections can be undertaken of any place, process or activity where you have concerns about the work undertaken and want a simpler form of check than an Audit.

Joint inspections with in-house staff are welcome and they can be used as part of a training programme to help your staff develop (or maintain) their skills in this critical area.

Reports typically include recommendations and references to the current standards, and may also have other items attached (such as training materials or checklists).

Investigations

The purpose of the investigation is to find out what (if anything) went wrong, and more importantly, what needs to be done to make sure it does not go wrong again in the future.

The output from an investigation can be anything from a simple report, to a file of advice and support, or even work to defend or support legal action. The outputs you desire (but not the results) are defined at the start of the process.

Accredited Training

Training can be provided choosing from the IOSH and NEBOSH families of courses facilitated by a national course supplier.

These are nationally and internationally recognised qualifications.

Bespoke Training

Training can be written for a very wide range of issues to suite your specific needs. As a qualified educator as well as an experienced practitioner I will provide you with the training, delivery and materials, and also enable you to undertake refresher and limited in-house training following the delivery of the courses. Once provided the training is yours to use again if you have the competency to deliver it in-house.

All courses are developed using current published standards and all materials are copyright protected with permission for in-house reproduction.

Courses have included:

Special sessions for a Theatre to facilitate new staff to deal with both work at height and manual handling issues in this unique environment, incorporating the sector guidance (from the ABTT).

Dedicated manual handling training for staff at a chemical plant to facilitate the new plant design, assist with developing new risk assessments, and work towards a reduction in lost time incidents.

COSHH training for laboratory workers involved in the development of new substances and methods, where the more conventional courses simply did not provide sufficient skill.

All staff attending my courses will be provided with either certificates of attendance (for non-validated courses) or certificates of achievement (if they can demonstrate a suitable understanding at the end of the course).

Training is validated by either:

a test of understanding (using a written paper);

a practical project to demonstrate understanding (such as the first risk assessment undertaken after the training has been delivered, or undertaking a full fire evacuation for fire wardens and marshals); or

a practical demonstration of the new skill (for example performing an unassisted safe evacuation chair run).

All training records are maintained for five years by us backing up your own records, and we also maintain information on the exact content of what was delivered (in case you have a dispute about the training delivered and need to prove the competency achieved).

Expert Witness

I am a registered Expert Witness on the UK Register of Expert Witnesses. My registration is for my expertiese in health and safety and the listing is publically available.

I have won awards three years running for the range and competency of the Expert Witness services available. All my clients have been very satisfied with the outcomes achieved.

The outputs will depend on the issue being considered. They have included reports for civil and criminal matters, investigations into internal issues in companies, and Court appearances.

Sometimes all you need is an opinion to help you make that complex decision. More often though it is an opinion based on a reasoned judgement with a clearly argued case that is backed up with legal and guidance references and case histories. You get to choose how much detail you want in the report, and how far you want to go with any case or potential case. An expert is not there to tell you what to do, but to guide with reasoned argument and support your proposals (and of things go to Court to support the Court in understanding the full range of issues as they impact on your case).

General consultancy

Basically providing advice and support on most health and safety areas. If I cannot do this directly then I will find you somebody who can.

Services have included:

Writing (and re-writing) health and safety policies for organisations from just three staff (who did not need one by law but decided to have one to improve their marketability) through to a large metropolitan University (re-written from about 900 pages to about 70 pages).

Developing safe systems of work for people involved in activities that are just a little different from the normal (including shotblasting the underside of a large bridge; developing the safety protection of TV stunts; supporting TV companies in their film work; stage productions; acting as an 'event safety officer'; and much more).

Supporting companies in putting together grant bids and tender documentation where the safety elements were significant.

The outcomes from general consultancy are really as varied as the questions put. Basically, you decide what you want, and then we talk, then you get what you asked for.

Once client wanted their waste disposal bill reduced, and by looking at the organisation of waste in their facility we were able to reduce the bill by roughly a third, with no costs involved to achieve this. Now we are working on the next third!

Long Term Contract Support

I can offer clients based in the North East long term contracts to support their activities. These contracts are detailed on my website at www.safety4hed.co.uk, and I tailor the specifics to suit the client. In general they include unlimited general advisory plus a specified number of visits per quarter (to do whatever is needed) along with a 1/3 discount on any other services requested (training, additional visits, investigations etc).

These services are invoiced quarterly in arrers, with a generous 32 days to pay.

Basically, you decide what you want, and then we talk, then you get what you asked for, and you keep on getting it.

Some clients just want to have the reassurance that there is somebody that they can call on when they need additional assistance. For a small monthly sum this can be provided.

Other clients want regular support of specific projects to be backed up - again for a small monthly sum along with additional project costs as they arrise this is easilly catered for.

In all cases the charges made will be given a generous 1/3 discount from our standard charges to reflect that you are long term clients.

Work History

Total years experience: 27

Role

From - To

Job Title / Description

HM Inspector of Health and Safety - HSE

10.1989 - 02.1999

Working for the HSE as an Inspector - specialist groups included Agriculture and Construction. Personal specialisms included Asbestos Removal and Industrial Radiography.

This included working in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne office, Bootle headquarters and the Bristol office.

Assistant University Safety Officer - Newcastle University

03.1999 - 10.2002

General health and safety advisory and investigation work for a major research university - working as part of a small team.

Running the professional health and safety team plus over 120 'volunteer' staff at the university covering all health and safety aspects.

Managng the university safety policies and procedures for a £500M pa organisation.

Providing consultancy services to other universities, tenants and spin-out companies.

Representing the university on national bodies and in negotiations with the HSE, Local Authorities, Fire Brigades (three), Police, Home Office and several other bodies.

Consultant / Partner

02.2012 - today

Freelance health and safety consultant and expert, providing advisory and training services to a wide range of clients in the North East and Nationally. Clients generally come from the research and related sectors, but also include asbestos removal and other high hazard specialisms.

Feel free to join the list.

Teacher at Northumbria University

09.2003 - today

I have been delivering NEBOSH Certificate and Diploma modules for Northumbria University since 2003, working as an external "hourly paid" member of staff. This work has been as part of a team of such tutors and we have had very good feedback from our students who generally achieve a good pass rate.

Further Information

You can download by current CV from my website at www.safety4hed.co.uk or from my LinkedIn pages.

I am a member of the following professional organisations:

A Fellow of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (FIIRSM)

A Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH)

A Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH)

A Member of the Institute for Safety in Technology and Research (MISTR)

A member of the Health and Safety Lawyers Association, and

an Affiliate of the Chartered Institute of Egronomics and Human Factors

I hold four degrees in different subject areas (see list) as well as my EurOSHM qualification. In addition to this I maintain an active interest in numerous other fields relating to business and management.

Partners in the development of the scheme

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